Facebook is all about sharing updates with your friends, whether it is your photographs, favorite books, birthdays or general updates. Now, Facebook has a new location-sharing feature built into the mobile application that allows you to see which friends are close by. It even lets you share your exact location with your friends.

The Nearby Friends feature allows you to broadcast your general location to Facebook friends without even posting to your Facebook page. This feature uses the geolocation technology in your phone to determine when you are close to a Facebook friend, and you will receive periodic notifications alerting you to friends who are nearby. Have no fear, this new feature only activates if you choose to participate. It may be valuable to know which of your friends are close by, whether it is to meet for coffee or catch up.

If Nearby Friends intrigues you, here’s some more information on how the new feature works:

• Turn on Nearby Friends in settings on the mobile application. There is a small tutorial explaining how to use the feature.
• You can select the specific groups on Facebook that you want to share your location with, such as only family or close friends.
• You won’t be able to see a friend’s exact location, but Facebook will notify you when friends are nearby. With this notification, you will be able to message the friends you want to connect with.
• This feature will not turn off automatically. Make sure you manually turn off Nearby Friends if you no longer wish to broadcast your approximate location.

Nearby Friends is only available in the United States, and users will gradually gain access to it. This new feature is intended to help friends meet and connect offline, so meet up with an old friend and give it a try!